Low-Cal Sweets Might Still Make Kids Obese

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WEDNESDAY, Aug. 8 (HealthDay News)--Diet foods and drinks
meant to help children control their weight may actually spur
overeating and obesity, Canadian researchers say.

The study found that animals learn to associate the taste of
food with the amount of caloric energy it provides. The researchers
speculate that children who eat low-calorie versions of foods that
normally have a high calorie content may develop distorted
connections between taste and calorie content, resulting in
overeating as the children grow up.

"The use of diet food and drinks from an early age into
adulthood may induce overeating and gradual weight gain through the
taste conditioning process that we have described," lead author and
sociologist Dr. David Pierce, of the University of Alberta, said in
a prepared statement.

In a series of experiments published August 8 in the journal
Obesity, the researchers found that young rats started to
overeat when they received low-calorie food and drink. Adolescent
rats did not overeat when given low-calorie items.

This may be because, unlike the younger rats, the adolescent
rats didn't rely on taste-related cues to assess the caloric energy
content of their food, the researchers said.

"Based on what we've learned, it is better for children to eat
healthy, well-balanced diets with sufficient calories for their
daily activities rather than low-calorie snacks or meals," Pierce
said.